The Alters

New Series

Straddling the Worlds of Humanity and Magic

The world of magic is a secret, dangerous place. Most will never see it, thanks to the efforts of the Ministri Bisnasci, the “Servants of the Twice Born.” For those that do, they will be forever changed. The most unlucky are the changelings, people whose lives are irrevocably transformed by magic, either being born straddling the worlds of magic and the mundane, or because they were traumatized by magic in their childhood. Changelings might seem like they get the best of both worlds, but that is not how others see it. Policed by the Servants, changelings can never lead a normal life, nor a fully magical one, always suspect and waiting for the fall of a Servant’s sword if they cross an indeterminate line.

Dawn Hollins is just such an unlucky changeling. The first years of her life was a mess of magical torture, abuse and horror. Rescued by the very people who now hold her life in their hands, Dawn had a long road to healing. Not only was she infused with magical power, her psyche split apart into several personalities. Living with dissociative identity disorder, Dawn has struggled all her life to integrate, to have a life with meaning. Sometimes her other personalities — her alters — have other ideas.

Now, Dawn is a psychiatry resident at an Ivy League school, a post-doctoral fellow in neuroscience, and the secretary for a bevy of alters that live in her head. That would be okay if they all didn’t have magical powers while she was seemingly left mundane and useless. There’s Arta, her “twin,” a feral and ferocious hotspur that won’t let anything hurt them ever again. Bile, a twisted and self-reighteous warlock with a mastery of alchemy and few scruples about whom he works for. Selina, the beautiful and graceful sacred whore and sexual healer who acts as the spirit of the alters. Arthur, the forever-adolescent young boy with an artist’s soul who holds the memory of their torture. And the enigmatic Mother, seemingly a traveler unmoored from time, able to see possible futures.

For most of her life, Dawn was able to stay off of the Servants’ radar, to live a small life despite her own desire to become a therapist, to help others like her. That is until she was invited to a werewolf party. That’s when everything came crashing down around her and everyone started Chasing Dawn…